The toughest meet the roughest this weekend, as the WRC stars line-up for a crack at the Greek marathon that is the Acropolis.
The event is recognised as posing one of the biggest challenges to drivers and machinery alike, as rock-strewn roads and soaring temperatures put the Acropolis on a par with the fabled Safari Rally in the hard to win category.
Every year the organisers promise that the route will smoother but the leading teams have now learnt to take these assurances with a large pinch of salt. Even in the roads start off with more than a few ripples evident, by the time a handful of the front runners have passed through, all manner of gravel, stones and boulders have been pulled to the surface to catch unsuspecting later arrivals.
Because of this, the works teams have formulated their own solutions to combat the obstacles placed in their path. Reinforced suspension, stronger wheel, puncture protection, armoured undersides and as much help for their suffering drivers as possible all go into the mix to produce the right car for the conditions, in the hope that it will survive the three days intact. The cars might be heavier, but they are also more likely to see the finish ramp.
Subaru's Richard Burns won last year's event almost as he pleased and, having already moved into a comfortable championship advantage in 2000, the 1999 series runner-up will be hoping for more of the same this time around. The Englishman's new Impreza WRC2000 has been successful on both its gravel outings since its introduction, and comes to Greece fresh from success in Argentina almost a month ago.
''After what happened in Argentina three weeks ago, where we ran cold weather settings and still managed to win, I'm very confident of the car's abilities to succeed in the conditions,'' Burns said, ''My main aim is to win here again - I've managed to the Rally of Great Britain twice in a row, and it would be great to do the double in Greece as well.''
